State v. Driskill
| Decision Date | 31 March 2015 |
| Docket Number | No. SC 93882,SC 93882 |
| Parties | State of Missouri, Respondent, v. Jesse Driskill, Appellant. |
| Court | Missouri Supreme Court |
Driskill was represented by Rosemary E. Percival of the public defender's office in Kansas City, (816) 889–7699.
The state was represented by Shaun J. Mackelprang of the attorney general's office in Jefferson City, (573) 751–3321
Jesse Driskill (hereinafter, “Driskill”) was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, section 565.020, RSMo 2000,1 one count of forcible rape, section 566.030, one count of forcible sodomy, section 566.060, and five counts of armed criminal action, section 571.015. Consistent with the jury's recommendations, Driskill received two death sentences, a consecutive fifteen-year term of imprisonment on the burglary count, and seven consecutive life sentences on the remaining counts. This Court has exclusive jurisdiction. Mo. Const. art. V, sec. 3. The judgment is affirmed.
On July 25, 2010, Driskill and Jessica Wallace (hereinafter, “Wallace”) were at the Prosperine River Access on the Niangua River. Together, they did drugs and later “ended up having sex.” Driskill and Wallace were interrupted by a police officer. Driskill ran off into the woods with his clothes and a gun. Wallace spoke to the police officer and returned home.
Contemporaneously, J.W. and C.W. (collectively, hereinafter, “the victims”) were at their home, located approximately one and one-half miles from the Prosperine River Access. J.W. was 82 years old; C.W. was 76. The victims were celebrating their fifty-ninth wedding anniversary. They were due to return to Highlandville, Missouri,2 the next day.
When the victims never returned to Highlandville, family members became worried. Multiple attempts were made to reach the victims by telephone, but without success. Concerned family members also contacted hospitals to inquire about the victims, pondering whether they could have had an accident.
On the evening of July 26, the following day, family members arrived at the country house. When they arrived at the house, the doors were locked and the victims' vehicle was not present. One relative entered the residence through a window. The interior was “smoky and smelly.” In the dining room, the relative saw C.W.'s feet sticking out from under a big pile of smoldering blankets.
The relative opened the front door and told the victims' son to come inside. Together, they found J.W. underneath another pile of blankets with chairs piled on top of him. There were pools of blood near the victims' heads. They called the police.
When the police officers arrived, they found no signs of forced entry. There was an odor of accelerant near the victims. C.W. had burn marks around the top part of her body. Paper towels had been wadded up and burned in her groin area. There was a clear fluid and blood draining from her vaginal and anal areas. C.W. had a blackened area beneath both eyes and a wound
above her right eyebrow. J.W. was naked, except for his shoes, and there was a plastic bag over his head. A large amount of blood had drained out of the bag and soaked the carpet beneath his head. There was a wound on his face. C.W.'s purse was emptied on the floor. There was a can of gasoline in the hallway. While police officers were conducting their investigation in the victims' home, they received reports of a burning vehicle near Conway, Missouri.
Meanwhile, Driskill called Wallace, telling her that he needed a ride. Driskill called her again, asking to be picked up on Highway N in Conway. Wallace drove to meet Driskill but had difficulty locating him. She drove up and down the highway a couple of times and stopped at a gas station. She saw smoke in the distance and first responders heading toward the smoke. She eventually went home without locating Driskill.
At approximately 10:45 p.m., Driskill went to Hannah's General Store in Conway to charge his cell phone, but there was no charger. Driskill then went to a nearby Budget Inn, asking to use its telephone. Driskill reached Jessica Cummins (hereinafter, “Cummins”), and he asked her to come get him. Cummins agreed and met Driskill at the Budget Inn.
During the drive, Driskill kept mumbling to Cummins. He said he had “shot someone” and that he “messed up really bad.” Cummins also thought he said he had “shot up” some drugs.
About 11:33 p.m., a highway patrol sergeant went to the scene of the burned vehicle, located near the county line of Laclede and Dallas counties. The sergeant recovered the license plate from the vehicle and discovered the vehicle belonged to the victims.
Cummins dropped Driskill off a little after midnight at Codi Vause's (hereinafter, “Vause”) house in Lebanon, Missouri. Driskill appeared anxious and exhausted, saying he “needed some help,” indicating the authorities were after him. Driskill stated he needed new clothes and that he had killed a couple of people.
At some point, Driskill called Wallace and told her he committed a home invasion, robbery, and a double homicide. Wallace drove to Vause's house. Driskill explained to the group that an elderly couple caught him going through their shed or garage and that he murdered them. Driskill further stated that he ordered them into their house while holding up his gun. Inside the victims gave Driskill money, but Driskill said it was not enough. Driskill then shot J.W., told C.W. to bend over, and raped her. He shot C.W. in the face, but she tried to get away, so Driskill shot her two more times and “put a plastic bag down her throat and a pillow over her head.”3
Driskill detailed how he attempted to clean up the evidence. Driskill said he shaved C.W.'s “pussy” and “poured bleach inside of her.” Driskill put newspaper in her vaginal area, poured gasoline on her, and lit it. Driskill then used five gallons of gasoline to burn the house. He took the victims' vehicle, which he later burned. Driskill said his shoes were filled with blood.
After listening to Driskill, Wallace left and went to a store where a friend worked. Wallace was upset and crying. A police officer at the store asked her what was wrong. Wallace recounted Driskill's story to the police officer.
Cummins then returned to Vause's home. Driskill was washing out his shoes in the kitchen sink. Driskill changed his clothes and directed Vause to get rid of the clothes he had been wearing. Vause put the clothes into a trash bag. Driskill fell asleep on the couch. The others told Cummins what Driskill told them; they decided to call the police, and they each provided a statement.
On July 27, at approximately 1:45 a.m., law enforcement officers arrested Driskill while he was sleeping on the couch at Vause's home. Driskill awoke and resisted his arrest. During the arrest, Driskill's head hit a coffee table, resulting in a laceration. Driskill continued to resist and was tasered. The officers finally handcuffed Driskill and took him to the hospital for treatment. The officers also seized the trash bag containing Driskill's clothes.
Several hours later, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant to collect “DNA, hair samples, anything that would have been involved with [ ] Driskill or the homicide.” They conducted a gunshot residue test. They collected blood stains from Driskill's hands. They seized an unlabeled pill bottle and found a pack of cigarettes in his clothes that had the same “run number” as ones at the victims' home. They also conducted a sexual assault kit on Driskill.
Both of the victims' bodies were autopsied. C.W. had extensive burns on her face, head, back, and legs. The burns were direct thermal injuries, indicating the fire was in constant contact with her skin. There were burnt paper towels and calendar pages between her legs. There was a gunshot wound
that traveled along her jawline, exited her neck, and reentered her shoulder. C.W. also was shot above the left eye. This shot was instantly incapacitating and fatal; it was fired from “near contact” or less than an inch away. C.W. had a laceration along her right eyebrow from blunt trauma, and her skull was fractured beneath that laceration. Additionally, C.W. had injuries consistent with sexual assault. There were bruises and tears at the entrance to C.W.'s vagina from penetrating injuries. There were also two small tears at the entrance to C.W.'s rectum.
During the autopsy of J.W., a wadded-up plastic bag was found in his throat. J.W. had a gunshot wound
that indicated a bullet entered his right cheek, went through his tongue and throat, exited his neck, and lodged in his shoulder. While this gunshot wound was potentially fatal, J.W.'s cause of death was determined to be asphyxiation due to the plastic bag.
The vaginal swabs from C.W. were subjected to DNA analysis. The first swab produced a mixture from two individuals, C.W. and Driskill. J.W. was eliminated as a contributor to the DNA mixture. Additional testing revealed that it was 94.97 billion times more likely that the mixture was produced by C.W. and Driskill than by C.W. and some other unknown person.
On July 27, 2010, the state filed a complaint and subsequently charged Driskill by amended information with two counts of first-degree murder, one count of first-degree burglary, one count of forcible rape, one count of forcible sodomy, and five counts of armed criminal action. On November 1, 2010, the state gave notice it intended to seek the death penalty.
In July 2013, Driskill's counsel advised the trial court that Driskill suffered from “anxiety disorder” and “intermittent explosive disorder
.” Defense counsel then requested, should Driskill believe he would have a panic attack, that he be permitted to leave the courtroom and participate in part of proceedings via a closed-circuit television. The trial court questioned Driskill regarding his counsel's request. Driskill confirmed that he...
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